Even my agents say, `We don`t know what this business is anymore.` These days, you can do a TV series for five years and all of a sudden be on top of the business. Features don`t even run in theaters very long anymore before going right to television. And every other movie is one of those action things. I mean, Lost in Space?--a bunch of good actors running around shooting at special effects on a soundstage? I took my kids to see that and almost felt like I was on an acid trip. Most of what gets made now, you laugh your way through, go home and forget you`ve seen it.

(On being famous) "I mean I`ve turned down magazine covers because, for one thing, I don`t know if I want people sending them to me for autographs or whatever, and I don`t like the idea of seeing myself on magazine racks. Another thing is I do like my privacy and I get very little of that as it is. I like to do what I want when I want, and I want to be able to walk down the street without an entourage or protection. It`s bad enough for me already."

(1975 quote) "I first started thinking about being an actor when I was in college at the University of Missouri. I auditioned for a television play, and the director, who has some professional New York credits, encouraged me to pursue acting. In college I had a double major--drama and film editing. I worked with 16 millimeter film upon graduating, and from Kansas City I went on to Dallas. All of this time I suppose I had an unrealized commitment to acting. But then, I guess I ran away from acting. I was afraid of the business--I still am."

(2002 quote) "Since the `70s I`ve seen myself as a poet. Sometimes I express that poetry through acting, sometimes through cooking, and sometimes just having a good chat, you know, one of them chats you have when you`re stoned and the hour is getting late. I don`t know what`s gonna come my way, but I think Berenger`s gonna be big these next couple years."

(On playing bad guys) "I enjoy playing them. I find something human in them, with the exception of Looking for Mr. Goodbar. It was such a slimy character with no redeeming qualities. To me it was like playing Charles Manson. I had nightmares after I finished shooting it. I felt dirty. Bad guys are interesting, even if you don`t like them."